Рыбин, Ю. В. Советские асы на Харрикейнах в годы Второй Мировой Войны / Юрий Рыбин . – [Б. м. ] : Osprey Publishing, 2012. – 97 с. : ил., портр. – Англ. яз.

CH AP TE R THREE 44 was able to shoot down his first enemy aircraft in the theatre. Sgibnev’s victim was a Bf 109 that had been involved in an attack on Murmansk. German records confirm that Luftwaffe aircraft engaged those of the Northern Fleet Air Force’s 122nd IAD, and admit the loss of Bf 109E Wk-Nr. 3523. Another 78th IAP pilot was credited with his first victory that day too, and he would also subsequently become a Hurricane ace. Snr Lt Vasiliy Shalaev claimed to have shot down a Bf 110, although this was not confirmed. Combat activity in the polar skies became much more intense as March 1942 drew to a close. This was due to an increased effort by the Luftwaffe to disrupt Allied convoys bringing vital supplies to the USSR. Convoy PQ-13 was one of the first to experience a combined attack by submarines and aircraft of the Luftwaffe’s 5th Air Fleet, which resulted in five of the 19 vessels that had set out from Reykjavik on 20 March being sunk. At the same time, the port of Murmansk began to suffer systematic mass bombing raids by Ju 87 dive-bombers from I./StG 5 and Ju 88s of KG 30, escorted by Bf 110 and Bf 109 fighters. There was another factor that defined the violent nature of the air war over the coastal regions of the Arctic Ocean in 1942. Luftwaffe units were reinforced with the arrival of the newly formed JG 5 Eismeer at the beginning of the year. At the same time Bf 109F-4s were making their appearance. Until then the Luftwaffe had maintained a limited fighter force in the Murmansk area, with just two units —1. and 14./JG 77 — operating single-engined fighters in the form of Bf 109E-4s and E-7s throughout 1941. With the arrival of Bf 109F-4s in geschwader strength, the Northern Fleet Air Force began suffering heavy losses in combat. For example, during the last week ofApril 1942 2nd GKAP lost seven Hurricanes to German fighters. A further four aircraft sustained severe damage, and repairing them proved to be problematic due to a chronic shortage of spare parts for the foreign-made fighters. This in turn meant that they were out of action for long periods. Northern Fleet Air Force losses were especially high on 10 May, when no fewer than ten Hurricanes failed to return from operational sorties and five experienced aviators perished. Yet the Northern Fleet pilots managed to exact retribution during these bloody bouts of air combat. The top-scorers during April and May were Petr Sgibnev with seven victories, Pavel Orlov with six kills and Sergey Kurzenkov with five. Other Northern Fleet pilots claimed their first successes during this period to set them on their way to becoming Hurricane aces in 1942. They were Snr Lts Konstantin Babiy and Vasiliy Doroshin of 78th IAP, with three kills each, and Snr Lt Aleksey Dizhevskiy and Lt Vasiliy Shalaev, also from 78th IAP, who claimed two apiece. Guards Lt Vasiliy Pronchenko of 2nd GKAP opened his score on 30 May. Another pilot to achieve success during this period was Aleksander Kovalenko also of 2nd GKAP. He was already an ace by early 1942, having shot down Pictured here are some of 78th lAP's most successful pilots during the fierce battles w ith the Luftwaffe over Murmansk in the spring and early summer of 1942. They are, from left to right, Lt Vasiliy Shalaev, Snr Lt Petr Sgibnev, unknown and Snr Lt Konstantin Babiy © Osprey Publishing • www.ospreypublishing.com